Employer-provided health insurance in state and local government

Although state and local governments still provide comprehensive health insurance coverage to most employees, the total percentage of employees who are covered by insurance has declined. In 2011, 82 percent of full-time employees in state and local government participated in a medical plan, compared with 86 percent of such employees in 1998.

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From 1998 to 2011, full-time employee participation declined for dental care, vision care, and outpatient prescription drug coverage plans. Sharper declines occurred for part-time employees participating in medical care coverage plans, with only 18 percent of part-time employees obtaining coverage in 2011, compared with 37 percent in 1998. Declines were also recorded for dental care, vision care, and outpatient prescription drug coverage.

These data are from the National Compensation Survey - Benefits. To learn more, see "How have health benefits changed in state and local governments from 1998 to 2011?" (HTML) (PDF) in an issue of Beyond the Numbers published in June 2012.